Archives for June 2000

The Royals have gotten two very good pitching performances in a row, but frankly, Royals fans should not be glad. They should be very concerned. You may have heard earlier this season that the Cardinals were involved in a minor tiff with agent for Rick Ankiel, their young phenom pitcher. Ankiel’s agent became a bit queasy whenever the young lad went beyond 100 pitches. While the agent may have been a bit overbearing, his point is salient: pitchers, especially young, developing pitchers, must be worked carefully. Many a young arm has been blown out by overuse before its time. Which brings us back to the Royals. Jay Witasick threw 120 pitches in his complete game Wednesday. That’s a lot, but not horrible, considering Witasick is 27 years old. But Thursday, Tony Muser let 22-year old Chad Durbin throw 132 pitches in a quest for a shutout. That is obscene. Tony Muser should be fired if he ever lets a young Royal pitcher do that again. This team will depend on the strong healthy arms of its pitching prospects for the next decade. Muser is risking their futures and the Royals.

The Cardinals went into Cincinnati leading by 8 and 1/2 games, and four days later, they left Cincinnati with the same lead. They earned a split of their series yesterday with a 12-3 win over the Reds. The Cards pounded the long ball getting home runs from Edgar Renteria, Shawon Dunston and Eric Davis. Davis had three hits, three runs, and three RBI’s. Dunston drove in four runs. Andy Benes picked up the win, allowing three runs in seven innings to improve to 8-3. The Cards host Houston this weekend and may have a big weapon back in their lineup. Fernando Tatis, who hasn’t played since injuring his groin in late April, has been played the last four days in Triple-A Memphis on a rehab assignment. He is expected to rejoin the Cardinals tonight, most likely meaning Larry Sutton will be sent down. Rick Ankiel will start tonight against the Astros. He is 6-3 with a 3.39 ERA. Chris Holt, 3-8, goes for Houston.

Royals pitcher Chad Durbin wanted the shutout and the complete game, but settled for a win and a sterling performance as he beat Cleveland 6-1. Durbin threw 132 pitches before allowing a run with two outs in the ninth inning. Manager Tony Muser brought in Ricky Bottalico to get the final out. Durbin allowed five hits and five walks in 8 and 2/3 innings, striking out six, improving to 2-3. His ERA is still over eight, at 8.40. He got help from Carlos Beltran, who hit a pair of solo home runs, and Joe Randa who belted a two-run shot. The Royals took two out of three from Cleveland, and are two games below .500. Detroit visits Kauffman Stadium for a weekend series. Dan Reichert, who has worked out of the bullpen all year, will get the start for the Royals tonight, against Jeff Weaver.

Saint Louis University guard Justin Love wasn’t drafted Wednesday night, but in reality, that may have helped his chances of making an NBA team. First round draft picks are guaranteed a contract, but second rounders, like St. Louisan Chris Carrawell, must try to make the roster of the team that picked them. Love, on the other hand, can choose to sign as a free agent with a team that he has a better chance of making. SLU Coach Lorenzo Romar says Phoenix is very interested in signing Love, and probably would have chosen him if the Suns had a second round pick, which they didn’t. Romar says most NBA people he talked to were concerned that Love, at 6-2, was too small to play shooting guard in the NBA.

Enforcer and fan favorite Kelly Chase will not be in a Blues uniform next season. The Blues have decided not to pick up Chase’s option for next season, which would have paid him $500,000. Chase has spent 8 of his 11 NHL seasons with the Blues, and has been heavily involved in the community. He won the NHL’s King Clancy Award two years ago for his charitable work. His playing time has diminished the last two years. He is second on the Blues’ career penalty minute list, behind only Brian Sutter. The Blues also released defenseman Rico Persson. The NHL’s free agent period begins Saturday. Pleau says he will try to re-sign Blues free agents Mike Eastwood and Tyson Nash.

Saint Louis University’s non-conference basketball schedule includes a half dozen games against teams from major conferences, and a trip to Columbia to play the Missouri Tigers. The Billikens will visit Mizzou December 9th. SLU’s home games include California, Dayton, St. Bonaventure, and a matchup with Southwest Missouri State December 23rd. The Billikens will visit the University of Washington in Seattle, and just after Christmas will travel to play in the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, where they will face Texas A&M in their first game. Last season, SLU’s schedule was the 17th toughest in the country accoring to the Ratings Percentage Index.

The River City Rascals blanked the Springfield Capitals 9-0. The Rascals hit back-to-back home runs in a five run fifth.Ozark’s Jason Thompson homered and drove in four runs as the Mountain Ducks beat the Alexandria Aces 4-1.

Missouri’s natural gas companies are having a tough time coping with the higher costs they have to pay for fuel. So, they want to pass along the added costs. Kevin Kelly of the Missouri Public Service Commission says the utilities want to increase rates as soon as possible. He says they are looking at a one-time summer season rate increase. According to Kelly, even if the Commission rejects the request for the summer rate increase, it would likely approve a rate increase that would lead to higher heating costs this winter.

Springfield’s new storm warning system will not have a battery back-up as originally planned. Nick Heatherly, Springfield Building Development Services Director says they’re not cost cutting. He says it just makes sense. He says its an emergency warning system, used to warn people about bad weather BEFORE it arrives. Most problems with power outages, according to Heatherly, are afterwards. He also says there have been no problems with power outages with the system in the past.

A former advisor for the student newspaper at Central Missouri State University is suing the school. She claims CMSU is punishing her for a damaging news story in the Muleskinner newspaper that lead to a state audit of the university. Barbara Lach-Smith advised the student newspaper when it exposed the lavish contract for outgoing president Ed Elliot. She is seeking more than $100,000 in damages in federal court. The university is withholding comment.